The British Airways Executive Club is a long-running frequent flier program that has some ten million members all over the world. The program is approaching its quarter-century in operation and has some of the most loyal and dedicated members in the industry.
Working through its currency, Avios, the Executive Club lets members secure seats on flights and upgrade their cabin class, as most loyalty programs do. However, British Airways’ Executive Club is going through some changes. Like the proverbial teen maturing into an adult, the program is set to offer so much more to its members going forward.
In our featured podcast, loyalty consultant Paula Thomas of Lets Talk Loyalty chats with Niall Rooney, Loyalty Manager for British Airways, about what’s happening with the Executive Club and with loyalty in the aviation industry in general.
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Trends and developments
The podcast reviews how far the Executive Club has come over the years. British Airways is taking the development of this program incredibly seriously and is looking for examples of best practice not just within aviation, but also in businesses away from the industry.
Rooney discusses how companies like Boots and Pret A Manger are going above and beyond in the loyalty stakes, and what British Airways can learn from them in order to make their own program better. He discusses the evolution of Avios, the program currency, and in particular how British Airways is developing new ways to earn and burn the points.
In terms of moments of pride, Rooney points to a recent annual survey conducted by Ideaworks, which looks at reward seat availability across the airline industry. In this year’s survey, British Airways took the headline spot, having boosted reward seat availability by 17.9 points to achieve a total availability of 80%.
Strategies for the future
To put the Executive Club in context, Paula and Niall discuss the future, and what benefits the program is bringing to its members. Along with opening new lounges for members recently in Johannesburg and Geneva, British Airways is looking to add more benefits to each tier of its membership.
From integrating new technology and new platforms to the service to improving group boarding and providing meet and greet at the airport, British Airways is seeking to ‘surprise and delight’ its most loyal fliers as it heads into its second century of operations.
Take a listen to the podcast to get all the delightful details on the inner workings of BA’s famous Executive Club.